By embedding Guatemala in recent conceptual and theoretical work in comparative politics and political economy, this volume advances knowledge about country’s politics, economy, and state-society interactions. The contributors examine the stubborn realities and challenges afflicting Guatemala during the post-Peace-Accords-era across the following subjects: the state, subnational governance, state-building, peacebuilding, economic structure and dynamics, social movements, civil-military relations, military coup dynamics, varieties of capitalism, corruption, and the level of democracy. The book deliberately avoids the perils of parochialism by placing the country within larger scholarly debates and paradigms.

This book provides a comparative view as well as elaborate case studies for scholars, students, and the public who are interested in learning about how the social sciences and history contribute to our understanding of integration, migrations, and religious coexistence / This book will appeal to all those interested in religious minorities in Early Modern Europe / This book investigates the tensions these groups experienced.

For those interested in Christianity in China, the state-church relationship, and the present Communist regime and its attitude towards religion, Sino-Vatican Relations offers a wealth of information and insights. This work traces the tortuous history of the relationship between the Chinese government and the Roman Catholic Church, from denunciation of Communism by the Church, to seeking dialogue by recent pontiffs such as John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. Besides examining the religious policy of China since 1949 and how the Chinese government deals with religious revivals, this work also traces the history of the church regarding the appointment of bishops in Europe from its early days to modern times. Monarchies in Europe have always been involved in the appointment of bishops. Thus, the recent agreement between Pope Francis and the Chinese authorities regarding the appointment of bishops has historical precedents. The overall aim of this work is to help readers to get the right information needed to have a well-informed opinion on the complex matter of the Sino-Vatican Relations, particularly on the agreement signed by Pope Francis with Beijing in 2018.

In A Tale of Two Theologians, Ambrose Mong's observant new work, he examines the writings of the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez and the Indian theologian Michael Amaladoss, and gives fresh attention to their main concerns regarding evangelisation and the poor. Why, he asks, is Gutierrez's liberation theology now accepted and celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church while Amaladoss's Asian theology with a liberation thrust is threatened with censorship? Mong argues that the dwindling threat of Communism has made the Marxist overtones of Latin American liberation theology more palatable to the Catholic hierarchy, while the challenge of religious pluralism in Asia is as complex and emotive as ever. How can the Church learn to balance the need for dialogue between religions with their duty to proclaim the Gospel? How can the Church inculturate itself in Asia while maintaining its identity? Ambrose Mong tackles these questions with the shrewd, clear-eyed view of an active priest and scholar, exploring the long, troubled relationship the Church has with liberation theology and offering guidance for the future.

In this richly illustrated guide, Bees of Costa Rica, leading bee experts showcase the diversity of bees in Costa Rica and the myriad ways in which they interact with flowers and people. Costa Rica is home to 117 bee genera and approximately 700 bee species. Focusing on the five bee families present in Costa Rica, the authors describe the bees' general physical traits, foraging and mating behavior, and nest characteristics. Chapters cover the relationships between bees and other insects, profiles of plants pollinated by bees, and practical suggestions for bee conservation. With identification keys and more than 150 color photographs, Bees of Costa Rica is essential for anyone looking to learn about and protect these important pollinators in Costa Rica and beyond.

What role does the political survival of prime ministers play in Japan's relations with China over the Yasukuni issue? Three Japanese prime ministers, including Nakasone Yasuhiro, Hashimoto Ryutaro and Abe Shinzo, complied with China's demands and stopped visiting the controversial Shrine in 1986, 1997 and 2007, respectively. By contrast, the Yasukuni controversy intensified between 2001 and 2006 when a popular Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro was determined to pay regular homage to the Yasukuni Shrine annually. Prime Minister Abe, who previously demonstrated restraint over the issue in his first term between 2006 and 2007, visited the Yasukuni unexpectedly in 2013 but not in 2014 or 2015. To explain this variation, this book presents an alternative interpretation of Japan's official responses toward China's pressure over the Yasukuni issue between 1985 and 2015 by applying a political survival approach that highlights the domestic political legitimacy of the Japanese prime minister or the ruling party. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Sino-Japanese relations, Japan's foreign policy and international relations.

What role does the political survival of prime ministers play in Japan's relations with China over the Yasukuni issue? Three Japanese prime ministers, including Nakasone Yasuhiro, Hashimoto Ryutaro and Abe Shinzo, complied with China's demands and stopped visiting the controversial Shrine in 1986, 1997 and 2007, respectively. By contrast, the Yasukuni controversy intensified between 2001 and 2006 when a popular Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro was determined to pay regular homage to the Yasukuni Shrine annually. Prime Minister Abe, who previously demonstrated restraint over the issue in his first term between 2006 and 2007, visited the Yasukuni unexpectedly in 2013 but not in 2014 or 2015. To explain this variation, this book presents an alternative interpretation of Japan's official responses toward China's pressure over the Yasukuni issue between 1985 and 2015 by applying a political survival approach that highlights the domestic political legitimacy of the Japanese prime minister or the ruling party. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Sino-Japanese relations, Japan's foreign policy and international relations.

Although its various bodies boast a combined total of at least 300 million members, the Eastern Orthodox Church is widely perceived among members of other denominations to be an exotic branch of the faith, often shrouded in mysticism and misunderstanding that has been exacerbated by the longstanding Eastern-Western split. In 'Purification of Memory', Ambrose Mong casts light on the true nature of Orthodox theology, illuminating the thinking of eight distinguished modern Orthodox theologians who have made important contributions on topics as ecclesiology, ecumenism, Christology, and Mariology. Approaching the work of John Meyendorff, Nicholas Afanasiev, John Zizioulas, Georges Florovsky, Sergius Bulgakov, Vladimir Lossky, Nicolas Berdyaev, and Jaroslav Pelikan from an ecumenical standpoint, Mong deftly draws comparisons with the theology of their Roman Catholic counterparts to reveal points on which the two traditions have much more in common than either side will always admit. The author interweaves these comparisons with a fascinating exposition of the history of the schism between the Eastern and Western Churches to demonstrate decisively that in spite of the bitter mistrust dividing them, they share a common heritage which could, and should, serve as a basis for reunification. Before old wounds can mend, however, a healing process of forgetting, characterized by Pope John Paul II as a 'purification of memory', must take place to clear the path towards a long-awaited return to unity.

In A Tale of Two Theologians, Ambrose Mong's observant new work, he examines the writings of the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez and the Indian theologian Michael Amaladoss, and gives fresh attention to their main concerns regarding evangelisation and the poor. Why, he asks, is Gutierrez's liberation theology now accepted and celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church while Amaladoss's Asian theology with a liberation thrust is threatened with censorship? Mong argues that the dwindling threat of Communism has made the Marxist overtones of Latin American liberation theology more palatable to the Catholic hierarchy, while the challenge of religious pluralism in Asia is as complex and emotive as ever. How can the Church learn to balance the need for dialogue between religions with their duty to proclaim the Gospel? How can the Church inculturate itself in Asia while maintaining its identity? Ambrose Mong tackles these questions with the shrewd, clear-eyed view of an active priest and scholar, exploring the long, troubled relationship the Church has with liberation theology and offering guidance for the future.

Welcome to the city shadows in Valdemingomez: a lawless landscape of drugs and violence. Through vivid testimonies and images, Briggs and Monge tell the stories of the people who live there, placing them in a political, economic and social context of spatial inequality and oppressive mechanisms of social control.

During the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries vied for the Chinese souls they thought they were saving. But many things held them back: Western gunboat diplomacy, unequal treaties and their own prejudices, which increased hostility towards Christianity. 'One more Christian, one less Chinese,' has long been a popular cliche in China. Guns and Gospel examines the accusation of 'cultural imperialism' levelled against the missionaries and explores their complex and ambivalent relationships with the opium trade and British imperialism. Ambrose Mong follows key figures among the missionaries, such as Robert Morrison, Charles Gutzlaff, James Hudson Taylor and Timothy Richard, uncovering why some succeeded where others failed, and asks whether they really became lackeys to imperialism.

This book presents an approach to energy-efficient building design, which takes into account the most important challenges in climate change mitigation and adaptation in Southern Europe. It outlines a specific approach related to residential buildings and their intergenerational and vulnerable occupants, such as ageing population and users in fuel poverty. It also focuses on the use of passive energy measures throughout the year, and on pursuing a realistic and affordable approach to the efficient rehabilitation of resilient residential buildings. In addition, the book presents case studies that include surveys, monitoring, and simulation of residential buildings in Spain and other Southern European representative locations, in order to go further on the study of this challenging topic.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 37th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, ER 2018, held in XI'an, China, in October 2018. The 30 full and 13 short papers presented together with 3 keynotes were carefully reviewed and selected from 151 submissions. This events covers a wide range of following topics: Conceptual modeling studies, ontological modeling, semi-structured data modeling, process modeling and management, spatio-temporal modeling, cloud-based modeling, schema and view modeling,languages and models, NoSQL modeling, conceptual modeling for machine learning and reasoning, applications of conceptual modeling.

This book presents an approach to energy-efficient building design, which takes into account the most important challenges in climate change mitigation and adaptation in Southern Europe. It outlines a specific approach related to residential buildings and their intergenerational and vulnerable occupants, such as ageing population and users in fuel poverty. It also focuses on the use of passive energy measures throughout the year, and on pursuing a realistic and affordable approach to the efficient rehabilitation of resilient residential buildings. In addition, the book presents case studies that include surveys, monitoring, and simulation of residential buildings in Spain and other Southern European representative locations, in order to go further on the study of this challenging topic.

This book constitutes the workshop proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Database Systems for Advanced Applications, DASFAA 2014, held in Bali, Indonesia, in April 2014. The volume contains papers from 4 workshops, each focusing on hot topics related to database systems and applications: the Second International Workshop on Big Data Management and Analytics, BDMA 2014; the Third International Workshop on Data Management for Emerging Network Infrastructure, DaMEN 2014; the Third International Workshop on Spatial Information Modeling, Management and Mining, SIM(3) 2014, and the DASFAA Workshop on Uncertain and Crowdsourced Data, UnCrowd 2014.

The two volume set LNAI 8481 and 8482 constitutes the refereed conference proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Industrial, Engineering and Other Applications of Applied Intelligent Systems, IEA/AIE 2014, held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in June 2014. The total of 106 papers selected for the proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers deal with a wide range of topics from applications of applied intelligent systems to solve real-life problems in all areas including engineering, science, industry, automation and robotics, business and finance, medicine and biomedicine, bioinformatics, cyberspace and human-machine interaction.

These two volumes set LNCS 8421 and LNCS 8422 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Database Systems for Advanced Applications, DASFAA 2014, held in Bali, Indonesia, in April 2014. The 62 revised full papers presented together with 1 extended abstract paper, 4 industrial papers, 6 demo presentations, 3 tutorials and 1 panel paper were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 257 submissions. The papers cover the following topics: big data management, indexing and query processing, graph data management, spatio-temporal data management, database for emerging hardware, data mining, probabilistic and uncertain data management, web and social data management, security, privacy and trust, keyword search, data stream management and data quality.

These two volumes set LNCS 8421 and LNCS 8422 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Database Systems for Advanced Applications, DASFAA 2014, held in Bali, Indonesia, in April 2014. The 62 revised full papers presented together with 1 extended abstract paper, 4 industrial papers, 6 demo presentations, 3 tutorials and 1 panel paper were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 257 submissions. The papers cover the following topics: big data management, indexing and query processing, graph data management, spatio-temporal data management, database for emerging hardware, data mining, probabilistic and uncertain data management, web and social data management, security, privacy and trust, keyword search, data stream management and data quality.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of workshops, held at the 31st International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, ER 2012, in Florence, Italy in October 2012. The 32 revised papers presented together with 6 demonstrations were carefully reviewed and selected from 84 submissions. The papers are organized in sections on the workshops CMS 2012, EDCM-NoCoDa, MODIC, MORE-BI, RIGIM, SeCoGIS and WISM. The workshops cover different conceptual modeling topics, from requirements, goal and service modeling, to evolution and change management, to non-conventional data access, and they span a wide range of domains including Web information systems, geographical information systems, business intelligence, data-intensive computing.